My Pay With Miles Experience with SkyMiles

When “Pay With Miles” first became an option, some predicted (correctly, I think) that it was a step towards a revenue-based future for SkyMiles. Time will tell on that one, but I recently booked a PWM redemption. It was only my second such redemption, but it is an option that has become slightly more attractive to me in certain circumstances. Why? PWM redemptions for first class tickets now earn full mileage credit, including MQMs. I selected first class flights, went to the payment page, and selected the amount of miles I wanted to “spend” towards airfare.

Now, I doubt this redemption would pass any kind of “cents per mile” value test, and if this trip was just about me, I would not have done this. MrsMJ and I are approaching a milestone anniversary, and dayjob requirements prevented me from planning an extensive trip. Not to mention, we have a 2-week cruise coming up in December. A weekend trip is just right. A weekend trip not worrying about whether our upgrades clear or not – even better. Earning full mileage credit, including MQMs, and class of service bonus? Icing on the cake.

I’ve got plenty of miles right now, and miles are made for spending, not hoarding. There was no need for me to calculate the value of this redemption. MrsMJ and I will fly comfortably, and that is all that matters. Sometimes it’s about more than “value.” And that’s the beauty of miles. YMMV.

Marshall Jackson is an aviation enthusiast and avid cruiser. After 10 years in the airline business, Marshall moved on to a new career that includes plenty of travel and plenty of cruises, and that’s just the way he likes it.

[…] flyer (and excellent Delta Points bag handler ), MJ on Travel has a great post about booking with Pay With Miles in 1st class. It is neat that you can earn MQMs and RDMs when spending Skymiles this […]

@Gene, I did. That screen shot of the fare capture was not the one I booked though. I didn’t take screen shots when I booked the trip over the weekend. So I had to pull something for illustration purposes this morning.

@Andy, I forget when they rolled out the J/F change for PWM. But believe it was around the April 2013 timeframe.

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5 years ago

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Andy

Whoa, I guess I missed the mileage accrual for J/F tickets. Good to know.

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5 years ago

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Gene

Did you redeem 30,000 miles per person? That would be consistent with the 307 MQDs shown.